Venue Hunters - Florida Panhandle Edition

Having just been through the whole destination wedding
process, I thought I would share my experiences with some venues in the
Destin-South Walton beach area. Slight
disclaimer that these reviews are my opinion only and are based on what we
found to be suitable to our specific needs.

We had very specific
requirements: 1). Beachfront (not bay front) ceremony on the sand; 2). An outdoor reception facility that could accommodate
70+ guests and a dance floor, and 3). A
teeny bit of privacy. (We recognized right away that “total privacy” and “beachfront
wedding” were not going to be entirely possible, but we were determined to find
the best balance).

Venues we visited

Hilton Sandestin: Gorgeous
area. Very popular and a lovely place for a wedding. We were concerned about the size of the main
patio - it would have been a tight fit for 70 people + a DJ. They have
ballrooms, but we didn’t want an indoor reception. On the day of our visit, there were three
weddings being set up on the beach. Sandestin
also has some lovely bay front wedding venues.

Henderson Park Inn: Very pretty, with a “vintage” vibe. Next to Henderson
Beach park, it is a little more private. The green was a little small.

The Venue at Crystal Beach: We toured this on our own and
did not ask management any questions. It
is a deck built on a vacant lot with a green space in front of the
beach. It’s a newer facility, seems to be nice enough -- a total blank slate
for decorating in any theme. It’s adjacent to a condo.

Destin Beach House (Palazzo Del Sol) - Nice beach front
house with a back lawn for an outdoor
reception. Seemed very private, although
the lawn would have been a bit cramped. There
also was a vacant house next door -
appeared to be storm damaged? We were concerned
about the potential for demolition/construction during our wedding. Wonder
if it’s still there?

Gulf Place - We liked this venue a lot! The beach is
beautiful and the green is definitely large enough to accommodate larger
wedding parties. Alas - our date was
booked!

Water Color/Watersound
- Both were simply beautiful and instant favorites. Their per person pricing is high, but it
includes quite a bit (food and drink, tables and place settings, chairs). They reduce the fee beginning November 1 through February, and we
seriously considered changing our date to take advantage of this. However, concerns about chillier weather in
late fall and/or having a wedding so
close to the holiday season were huge concerns.

Seaside - We loved Seaside. It is such a fun little town -
something for everyone! At the time we made our inquiries, their beachfront wedding set-up was a little
strange. Apparently you can only use one beach entrance for a wedding, and it
doesn’t have a walkover. You must wade
down the rather steep sand dune, and then hike back up. We couldn’t imagine
asking our guests to do this, not to mention a bride in a wedding dress -- ? But the reception venues are awesome. The Ruskin Place park is lush with trees and
very beautiful, with minimal decoration
required. (They have a rather lengthy request/approval
process -- different homeowners association from the rest of the community). The Lyceum Lawn is beautiful and spacious, and
has a tented deck for receptions/parties. There are no minimum cottage rentals or
anything like that; however, the Lyceum requires that you use local Seaside restaurants
for catering.

Alys Beach - Beautiful beach, seemed very private and we
loved it. A bit pricey, but the architecture
is amazing and it is very nice area. Requires
one house rental, which was doable for us. There was a lot of construction near
the Kelly Green, which was a concern (would it be completed by our date?)

Rosemary Beach - Love,
love, love! Beautiful venue. The beach and West Green are adjacent to
each other and so convenient. The fees were a little pricey, but the real
hang-up for us was the five cottage minimum rental. All of the cottages are pricey -- seemed like
we couldn’t find one for less than $500 per night; quite a few required 7-night
stays. That plus the odd bed
configurations of most of the houses (needed king and queen beds, too many
twins/bunk arrangements) made the price not worth it to us.

Carillon Beach - Lovely venue and staff. A veritable
one-stop shop for a wedding, and very private.

Our choice

Seaside; with a reception at Lyceum Lawn. We loved the atmosphere -- such a fun
destination for guests!

The lack of a beach walkover at the pavilion nearly made us
eliminate it from consideration. But our planner suggested having the ceremony
on the public beach (which has two walkovers - stairs plus accessible ramp!) between
Water Color and Seaside, which worked out great. It was close enough that our guests could walk
to the Lyceum Lawn for the reception.
And since it is a public beach, the only cost was for the permit with
Walton County, so -- savings!

A little advice: We started looking at venues 10 months
ahead of our date, and several of them were already booked. If you want to get married in this area, get
the venue booked as soon as you are engaged!

I hope this helps future Fla. Panhandle brides! Feel free to
PM me with any questions.